Turkey's Hepatitis C Virus Drug Market Will More Than Triple by 2017

BURLINGTON, Mass., June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, forecasts that, from 2012 to 2017, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) market in Turkey will more than triple, reaching $275 million in 2017. The Emerging Markets report, Hepatitis C Virus in Turkey, finds that an increased drug-treated population and the launch of premium-priced novel therapies will drive high growth in this market, despite the Turkish government's statutory and reference price discounts.

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Novel HCV-specific antiviral protease inhibitors, polymerase inhibitors and NS5A inhibitors -- such as Johnson & Johnson/Medivir's simeprevir, Gilead's sofosbuvir and Bristol-Myers Squibb's daclatasvir -- will become available in Turkey during the 2012-2017 period. These novel agents will be more efficacious in both treatment-naive and treatment-experienced patients than peg-interferon (IFN)-alphas, and will cause fewer adverse events and discontinuations. These direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) can be added to peg-IFN-alpha/ribavirin (triple therapy) or combined into IFN-free regimens.

The report also finds that, through 2017, peg-interferon-alpha will continue to be a major component of HCV therapies. However, expected price cuts for Roche's Pegasys and Merck's PegIntron and their shortened treatment duration in triple therapy regimens will result in a decrease in sales of these two brands. The prescribing of HCV-specific protease inhibitors, Johnson & Johnson's Incivo and Merck's Victrelis will continue to grow until simeprevir launches and becomes reimbursed in Turkey. By 2017, simeprevir may largely supplant both Incivo and Victrelis as the preferred protease inhibitor in triple-therapy regimens.

"In 2012, Roche and Merck dominated the HCV therapeutic market in Turkey," said Decision Resources Analyst Jing Wu, M.S., M.B.A. "However, we expect the HCV market to become more fragmented after new DAAs from other companies like Johnson & Johnson, Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squib and AbbVie successfully launch and integrate into the future care for HCV-infected patients."

The new report features extensive primary research with Turkish gastroenterologists and infectious disease specialists as well as a market outlook through 2017.

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SOURCE Decision Resources